September 2009 Xinjiang unrest
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In September 2009,
Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
, the capital of the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
in
the People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, experienced a period of unrest in the aftermath of the
July 2009 Ürümqi riots The July 2009 Ürümqi riots were a series of violent riots over several days that broke out on 5 July 2009 in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), in northwestern China. The first day's rioting, which ...
. Late August and early September saw a series of syringe attacks on civilians. In response to the attacks, thousands of residents held protests for several days, resulting in the deaths of five people. In addition, the arrest and beating of several
Hong Kong journalists Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese name) *Hong (Korean name) Organiz ...
during the protests attracted international attention.


Syringe attacks and protests

According to Xinjiang police, attacks in which hundreds of individuals claim to have been stabbed with
hypodermic needle A hypodermic needle (from Greek ὑπο- (''hypo-'' = under), and δέρμα (''derma'' = skin)), one of a category of medical tools which enter the skin, called sharps, is a very thin, hollow tube with one sharp tip. It is commonly used w ...
s began on 17 August. On 2 September, posters appeared around
Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
saying that 418 people had reported being stabbed or pricked, referring to the attacks as a "serious terrorist crime", although the government had so far not produced evidence of any terrorist link. Ürümqi authorities said that fewer than one in five of reported stabbings had left any obvious mark. A six-person
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
medical review panel announced at a press conference: "In the patients we have seen in the last couple of days, there are many which we believe were not actually punctured with needles," They believed the false reports were due to widespread fear and lack of medical knowledge. According to state media, witnesses say those who had been attacked include Hans and
Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
, although the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
said that Han Chinese claimed they were being targeted. In response to both concern over the attacks and dissatisfaction over the government's slowness in prosecuting people involved with the July riots, protesters took to the streets. Official media reported tens of thousands marching in the city centre on the morning of 3 September. The police dispersed the crowd with tear gas; five people died during the protests and 14 were injured. After the latest protest, the government announced a ban on all "unlicensed marches, demonstrations and mass protests". On 4 September, the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
Chief of Ürümqi,
Li Zhi Li Zhi may refer to: *Emperor Gaozong of Tang (628–683), named Li Zhi, Emperor of China *Li Ye (mathematician) (1192–1279), Chinese mathematician and scholar, birth name Li Zhi *Li Zhi (philosopher) (1527–1602), Chinese philosopher from the M ...
, was removed from his post, along with the police chief, Liu Yaohua. Li Zhi was later replaced with Zhu Hailan in a decision by the Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee. No reasons were given for the dismissals. On 9 September,
state media State media or government media are media outlets that are under financial and/or editorial control of the state or government, directly or indirectly. There are different types of state and government media. State-controlled or state-run media a ...
outlet ''
China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...
'' reported a further 77 syringe attacks from the previous two days.


Assault on journalists

On 4 September 2009, three Hong Kong journalists were tackled and detained by
paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
police while filming a disturbance. According to the Foreign Correspondent's Club of China, the reporters were punched and kicked by the police, then detained face-down on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs for up to 20 minutes. Their pleas to the armed police to check their central government-issued press identification cards were ignored. The reporters complained of being handcuffed and detained for three hours. The Xinjiang authorities blamed the journalists for inciting the disturbance, saying they were "not acting appropriately, for example gesturing to the crowd"; they however, regretted the "alleged beating". The spokesman said: "Of the three journalists, only one had a temporary press card that allowed him to conduct interviews in the city, but the other two didn't. They violated our regulations." The three journalists were
TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...
cameraman Lam Tsz-ho (林子豪), journalists Lau Wing-chuan (劉永全) and
Now TV Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * No ...
cameraman Lam Chun-wai (林振威).Sina.com.
Sina.com
" ''港府及港媒抗議新疆武警毆打香港記者.'' Retrieved on 15 September 2009. Five more journalists were detained on 6 September. They include
Commercial Radio Hong Kong Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK, , aka Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited is one of the two commercial radio broadcasting companies in Hong Kong along with Metro Radio Hong Kong. CRHK provides an array of entertainment, includ ...
reporter Yeung Tung-tat (楊通達),
RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...
correspondent Chan Miu-ling (陳妙齡), Chow Man-tau (周文泰), and
Now TV Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * No ...
reporter Gary Chan Wai-li and cameraman Lau Hiu-lap. They were taken away by officers, but were released half an hour later. Hong Kong politicians were united in their outrage over the incident, and the apparent violation of press freedom, which was a core value enshrined in the Basic Law.
Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...
said that he had written to the Xinjiang government, the
State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
and the
Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency of the State Council of the People's Republic of China responsible for promoting cooperation and coordination of political, economic and cultural ties betwe ...
of the State Council. Seven local
National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...
deputies wrote to NPC chairman
Wu Bangguo Wu Bangguo (born 12 July 1941) is a retired high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China. He was the Chairman and Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 t ...
to express their concern. Legislators from the Establishment camp as well as the pan-democrats regarded the incitement allegations "unpersuasive", and said Beijing must launch a full and detailed inquiry into the beatings. On 8 September 2009, Hong Kong journalists met with Ürümqi officials over the incidents.South China Morning Post.
SCMP
" ''Tempers flare over beating of journalists.'' Retrieved on 15 September 2009. The four media outlets whose journalists were assaulted were excluded, but they showed up anyway. On 13 September 2009, about 700 people including Hong Kong journalists and politicians marched on local offices of China's central government to protest the alleged police beatings of the three reporters.


See also

* June 2009 Shaoguan incident *
2008 Tibetan unrest 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
*
2008 Uyghur unrest The 2008 Uyghur unrest is a loose name for incidents of communal violence by Uyghur people in Hotan and Qaraqash county of Western China, with incidents in March, April, and August 2008. The protests were spurred by the death in police custody ...
* Ghulja Incident


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:September 2009 Xinjiang Unrest
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
Xinjiang, China Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
Ethnic riots Riots and civil disorder in China Ürümqi Rebellions in China Xinjiang 2009 09 September 2009 events in China Hong Kong–mainland China relations